Alicia I love this movie so much

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Martin Bradley In the cinema of Claude Chabrol the bourgeoisie are distinctly lacking in charm, discreet or otherwise and none more so than Phillipe and Esther, the well-to-do couple at the centre of UNE PARTIE DE PLAISIR, who, at Phillipe's insistence, decide to have an open marriage but when Esther looks like she's falling for the first guy she sleeps with, Phillipe gets very jealous indeed.The territory is, of course, typically Chabrolian but what makes this movie interesting as well as creepy and finally very unpleasant is that it would appear to explore the disintegrating marriage of its stars Paul Gegauff and Daniele Gegauff. Paul wrote the film in what appears to be a kind of exorcism though neither 'actor' rises above the one-dimensional. Nevertheless, Chabrol definitely embraces them treating them with more respect than either of them deserves. It may fit perfectly into Chabrol's world view of things but it's still a pretty hateful movie.

Red-Barracuda The Pleasure Party was made during Claude Chabrol's strongest period, where he made most of his best films. Unfortunately, however, this is a lesser effort from the great man even if it does share some similarities with his best work. It's a marriage drama about a couple who have a conversation one night where the husband admits past infidelities and goes on to actively encourage his faithful wife to pursue other sexual relationships, allowing for them to have an open marriage. This they do but it backfires on him as he gets increasingly jealous of his wife's affairs.The subject of infidelity is one that Chabrol covered many times in his films and here is no different. Similar to other works, the way the characters deal with news of extramarital affairs here is with not much more than a Gallic shrug, which always seems somewhat unrealistic. But then I suspect Chabrol was never purely going for realism and these infidelities were really a springboard to examine other psychological things. I think the single most differentiating factor comparing The Pleasure Party to other similarly themed Chabrol films is that the storyline and central character are very unpleasant indeed. Paul Gégauff, who also wrote this thing based on his own experiences, plays a version of himself and his unfortunate wife is also played by his real wife of the time, Danièle Gégauff. I really hope that this was not really a true representation of himself as the husband character in this one was a real low-life. Interestingly, several years later Gégauff was actually murdered by a later wife, so it does make you wonder I have to say…Offsetting the highly unsympathetic central character and unpleasant storyline is a typical Chabrol pastel colour scheme and a classical music soundtrack; both of which contrast quite noticeably with the content of the story. By the end of the film I have to admit wondering just what the message was and who we were being asked to sympathise with. An odd film but not one you would rush back to very quickly.

MartinHafer If you look at the picture on IMDb, it's the same one you see on the DVD for this film--a very sexy redhead who is naked. Did you know that this redhead is only in the film for a couple minutes and that you see her naked for only about two seconds?! Yet, this is how the unscrupulous jerks have marketed the film!! Talk about false advertising!! As for the movie itself, I found it to be a real mixed bag--and the bad slightly outweighs the good. While it started off with an interesting premise, as the film progressed it became more and more unpleasant--as well as more and more difficult to believe.The film begins with a couple who seem to be in love. Some time passes and the husband, quite stupidly, tells his wife he's had some affairs and she's free to do so if she wishes--as it won't hurt their strong relationship. However, when she begins to sleep with other men, two things happen--he becomes possessive and jealous and her 'flings' evolve into serious relationships, not just one night stands. Eventually, the two split up and their relationship is over. Now already this is not an especially pleasant film--but it gets MUCH darker and nastier. I'd say more, but, well...I didn't really care at this point.Perhaps the film is saying that affairs are bad or that they are bad if they are serious. Or, perhaps none of these...and it's just a film about a couple of idiots. Regardless, I just didn't care about anyone and the ending was just depressing and unnecessary. Despite director Chabrol's fame, I just wasn't impressed by this film. It seemed superficial, dull and I couldn't have cared less about them.

antcol8 OK, it's clear that this isn't a "great movie". It has some kind of tabloid energy that connects it to films by a director like Fuller. And it's committed to a very raw kind of amateurism that, as far as I know, is unique in Chabrol's oeuvre. The main actor was Chabrol's main screenwriter (Paul Gegauff), who also performs (with Chabrol's son) the 4-hand piano music used throughout the film (well, there is a one - pianist Schubert Impromptu at a key point). The couple and kid are a real-life couple and kid. And so on. This all lends a special intensity to the film but it also creates a lack of nuance. But I find that this energy corresponds to a certain experience I have (via my parents) of a marriage marked by emotional battering better than more nuanced films do. I wish Chabrol would have figured out a way to combine this rawness with his usual suavity in later films. Instead we end up with tired style exercises like Merci Pour Le Chocolat (although he really captures Swiss-ness in that film, I have to admit). Chabrol has a little trick, which I don't love, of adding some "surreal" element to his films right near the end. In this film, it's the veil as symbol of death. My girlfriend said "5 people couldn't pull him off her?" She didn't know that there's this kind of suspension near the end of many Chabrols. Anyway, I want to point out how Woody Allen seems to have stolen the 2 crab sequences for Annie Hall (the lobster sequences). In the 1st, the wife has an annoying fear of the crab. In the second, on the same beach, the new wife is masterful with the crab, and this makes Gegauff miss the 1st wife's now - endearing fear. Check it out.